Environmental, CO2 and Indoor Air Quality Monitoring System

Carbon dioxide is the most practical indicator of whether a room is getting enough fresh air. As occupancy rises and ventilation falls behind, CO2 climbs, and people report stuffiness, headaches and poor concentration. Many facility teams use a level of roughly 800 to 1,000 ppm as the trigger to increase ventilation, in line with the demand-controlled ventilation approach described around ASHRAE Standard 62.1. Treat these figures as guidance and set limits in your own building policy.

The Ideabytes IBI-A-C485 CO2 sensor uses NDIR dual-beam measurement with a 0 to 10,000 ppm range and an accuracy of ±(50 ppm + 3% of reading). It communicates over RS-485 MODBUS RTU, so it can sit in a return-air duct, an AHU plenum or on a meeting-room wall and report to a gateway, a BMS or a PLC.

The IBI-A-C485 (CO2) and IBI-A-TH485 (temperature and humidity) sensors are MODBUS RTU devices on an RS485 bus. The IBI-CSC50R (Wi-Fi) or IBI-CSC50RM (4G with built-in M2M SIM) gateway communicates with up to 15 RS-485 MODBUS RTU devices and monitors up to 30 parameters across them, sending readings to the Ideabytes cloud at a 15-minute interval by default. Eight parameters are set by default; configuration beyond that is charged additionally.

From the dashboard you get live values, trend graphs, high and low alerts by app push and optional SMS, and scheduled PDF reports, the same platform used for Ideabytes temperature loggers.

Controlled-environment agriculture depends on all three values at once. Greenhouses need CO2 enrichment and humidity control, mushroom growing rooms must hold CO2 down during fruiting, and banana and mango ripening rooms need temperature, humidity and CO2 managed through each cycle. Combining an IBI-A-C485 and an IBI-A-TH485 on one RS485 bus behind a single gateway puts all three on one timeline for each room.

In pharmaceutical plants, an environmental monitoring system usually means temperature and relative humidity in warehouses, dispensing areas, production suites and stability rooms, with alarms and 21 CFR Part 11 compliant records. Ideabytes Wi-Fi and 4G temperature and humidity loggers such as the IBI-WTH120 and IBI-MTH120 cover these points directly.

Ideabytes does not make a differential pressure sensor or particle counter. Differential pressure monitoring and particle counts can be brought into the same facility monitoring system through third-party MODBUS RTU transmitters connected to a CSC50R or CSC50RM gateway, subject to confirming their register maps.

The IBI-WTH120, IBI-MTH120 and the WC-X and MC-X customised loggers have IP64-rated enclosures, which resist dust and splashing water. The IBI-A-C485 CO2 sensor is rated for 0 to 50 °C and suits indoor spaces, ducts and plant rooms. For exposed outdoor or weather-station style locations, mount sensors in a ventilated shelter and discuss the site with us first.